Message in a Bottle
by Strata's Stargazer
Summary: Because this series needs more love and I couldn't get the plot bunnies to go away: Right before she escapes, she leaves a message for the prince.


_I'm a sucker for Fairy Tales and Happy Endings_

_Story by: Strata's Stargazer_

* * *

Twisting her new hand, Cinder sighed as she set the last screw to attach her new foot in place. Straightening, she flexed the foot and instantly noticed the improvement and the relief of having a foot to stand on again. Standing, she tested the foot and saw the readouts appear in the lower right hand side of her vision as the sensory link started.

"A perfect fit," she muttered, not too surprised at the reports. Both had been 100% compatible with her wiring and system and the sensory link would be completed in hours, instead of days.

Walking just because she could, Cinder glanced nervously at the open window on her cell door. Her guard was still there, but hadn't moved since Dr. Erland had left. Even the noise of her changing out her limbs hadn't drawn his attention, so she figured the doctor had used glamour – or bioelectrical control, whatever – to stop the guard from noticing. Still, even it couldn't last forever so she went to retrieve her old hand from the bed and hide it.

As she grabbed it, her audio sensor picked up the sound of something falling to the ground. Wondering if it was a loose screw and catching the glint of something metal under the bed, she bent and grabbed the item before sitting on the bed. Holding it up, Cinder frowned when she realized it wasn't a screw, but some kind of data chip.

Scanning it, her netlink eventual identified it as a simple storage chip, several years old. Most digital data was stored on the net anymore, making these rather obsolete, even more than to the D-COMM chip stored in her calf's compartment. Still, by having no connection with the network's database it was extremely safe from hackers accessing anything that may be confidential.

"What are you doing here?" she murmured, turning it around. Realizing it was compatible with her new universal port, Cinder thought about it for a minute before shrugging. For all she knew Dr. Erland had left it for her just for this purpose and could contain more information about where she needed to go to find him in Africa. Connecting it, she waited for the chip to read until a message showed up on her vision screen.

DATA FILE EMPTY.

"Just my luck," Cinder muttered with a scowl and was about to dismiss the readout screen when she caught the small flashing red icon on the top right corner of her vision, with a word next to it. "Record?"

At her command, the icon went solid and a timer appeared below it, counting the time.

"Stop recording." Freezing at 00:05:05, Cinder stared at the flashing red icon in thought. An audio recording chip? Why would Dr. Erland give her something like that? Did he mean for her to do some kind of journal, or maybe…

_Kai._

Curling her hands into fists, Cinder closed her eyes. Uncalled for, the video of him smiling at her that first day at the market played over her dark vision until the emergency warning of low oxygen levels forced her to open her eyes and take the breathe she had been holding.

Glancing at the guard, still facing away from her and barely acknowledging she was there, Cinder made a decision and took a calming breathe as she organized her thoughts.

Thirty minutes later, when it was dinner time and a second guard brought her food, Cinder was ready and waiting. Going to the open window, she met the gaze of the second guard before smiling, feeling heat crawl down her spine as she focused all her attention on him.

"Hello. I have a favor to ask."

Less than 48 hours later, Kai sat in his father's office – no, his office, his brain reminded him again – with his eyes closed. Huy and Torin had just left to send military troops after Cinder and the man who had escaped with her, the attractive one that set his teeth on edge. He had more work to do, comms to answer, Levana to answer to, the world to answer to, but couldn't find the motivation to move from his slumped over position.

By the time the security system chimed, indicating another visitor, he was half asleep and he jerked upright with a start. Feeling like a school kid caught sleeping in class and thankful Torin wasn't there to catch him, Kai got up as he rubbed his face in an attempt to wake up before hearing the monotone security program speak.

"Entrance requested for Royal Palace Guard Ngyugen Hao."

Thrown by the fact it was a Royal Guard wanting entrance, Kai paused before shaking his head. Maybe they were hoping to find Torin and Huy here, had more information about Cinder's breakout. The thought jumped out and grabbed him, causing his heart to pound in his throat as he turned towards the door.

"Entrance granted."

As the door to his office opened, Kai waited by the desk as the guard entered the room before stopping in front of him and bowing. Before Kai could speak, the man held out his hand in front of him, palm up to reveal a small dark square resting in the middle of it.

"To be delivered to Emperor Kai," the man announced stiffly and haltingly, as if unsure of the words he was speaking. Wishing to reassure the man – easily ten years his senior – but figuring it would just embarrass them both, Kai moved from around the desk to grab the square, realizing it was a microchip.

"What is it?" Kai asked, frowning. Why would someone send him something like this?

"What is…" the guard started before falling silent. Baffled, Kai watched as the man was still for a minute before suddenly blinking rapidly and looking around confusion. When he finally took note of Kai, panic covered his face as the man suddenly bent in half at the waist to provide another bow. "Emperor Kai!"

"Uh, yes?" Kai confirmed, though his own surprise turned his response into a question.

"Your Majesty, how can I… that is…" the man stuttered, still bent over and clearly confused. Watching him, Kai glanced at the data chip in his hand before glancing sharply at the man.

"Are you stationed at the prison?"

"Yes, sir!" the man said, straightening slowly. Suspicion rising, Kai held up the chip for the guard to see it.

"Have you seen this before?"

"No, Your Majesty," the guard replied with a slight frown as he stared at the chip.

Obviously the man had been glamoured, Kai realized, staring at the chip and knowing the one person who had been at the prison capable of doing something like this.

"Thank you, Ngyugen-Xia Shi, that will be all," Kai stated and the man slowly nodded, emotions recovered and hiding his confusion well. "Please use a hover to return to where you are needed and charge it to the palace."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ngyugen murmured, bowing again before turning and walking out of the room. Alone, Kai played with the chip before his glaze tore itself back to the metal hand and foot resting on his desk.

"Nainsi," he called and listened to the rumble as the android crossed from the space she took up outside his office and entered the room.

"Your Majesty?"

Going and closing the door, Kai held up the chip.

"Can you plug into this?" he asked and the android turned her sensor on the chip.

"I am compatible," she confirmed, and a panel slid open to reveal a cord for him to plug the chip in. Nainsi's body hummed as she ran the file before her sensor suddenly dimmed, making Kai jerk towards her, afraid another glitch had caused her to break down – and this time there was no Cinder to take her to.

"_Kai? Ah, sorry. Emperor Kai."_ Freezing at the voice suddenly coming out of Nainsi's speakers, Kai stared blankly at the white body at the sound of Cinder's voice. "_I hope you're alone. If not, you may want to stop this. I'll just give you a minute, if you don't mind."_

"_Right. Well then,"_ Cinder spoke awkwardly after a short pause, and Kai couldn't help but think of their first meeting at the market as he leaned against the back of the couch.

"_I'm also sure by now I've escaped, and I want to apologize for that. I have a lot to apologize for, really, and that's why I wanted to do this. So much happened that night, I'm not really sure to start explaining. Because I do want to tell you, tell you everything I couldn't that night."_

A soft sigh echoed around the room and Cinder was quiet for what felt like minutes before starting again, her voice slightly dull, guarded.

"_I'm a cyborg, obviously. My stepfather, Linh Garan, adopted me when I was 11 and brought me to New Beijing. I don't have any memories from my life before the accident, only what I was told by my ID chip and Garan. There was to have been a hover accident that killed both of my parents and damaged my body enough to warrant the operations and become like this. I never had any reason to doubt what they told me, so trust me when I say I was just as surprised as you were when I was told I was Lunar._

"_But I'll come back to that later…_

"_Five months after coming to New Beijing, Garan died from the letumosis. My step – legal guardian, who you had the pleasure of meeting the night of the ball, didn't like me. Never liked me. Still, I tried to be useful and started fixing things around the house as they broke. Eventually, Adri realized I could bring in money so I became a mechanic to bring in money. And as you know, I have two stepsisters, Pearl and…and Peony. _"

Hearing Cinder's voice catch, Kai closed his eyes as her silence wrapped around them. He knew the pain of losing someone to the plague and knew the pain in her voice was real. He had seen it, at the ball and in the elevator when she had talked to him about her sister.

"_Ah, anyways._" A deep breath, and when she started again, her voice was steady. "_Being a cyborg is hard. We're shunned, seen as less than human. Even as property in many situations. It was because of that I didn't want to tell you I was a cyborg. That day at the market, when we met…you treated me like a normal person, even though I was missing a foot at the time."_

Suddenly Cinder laughed.

"_That's ironic. I met you I was without a foot and the last time I saw you, I lost the same foot,"_ she explained. _"Like something going full circle. Bookends, almost._

"_I was selfish, too. As long as you didn't know I was a cyborg, you would keep talking to me. The one thing I didn't want was for you to suddenly look at me as less than human."_

"Cinder," Kai started before shaking his head. He couldn't talk to the recording, couldn't respond to the doubt and other emotions in her voice.

"_I was going to run away the night of the ball. That was why I turned you down. I have spent the last five years under the control of Adri, working without making money, with fewer rights just because I was a cyborg. I was going to run away, too, but then I talked to the girl on the other side of the D-COMM chip and she told me about Levana's plan. After that, I couldn't just leave without telling you._

"_Since that first day, you've thrown a wrench in my life – pardon the mechanics joke,"_ Cinder murmured, voice soft and warm. "_Your persistence paid off. I took Peony's dress, your gloves – also, sorry and thank you for them. They truly are the loveliest things I've ever been given in my life – and rushed to ball. And sorry about your tree. I didn't really plan to crash into it with my car."_

Blinking in surprise, Kai frowned as he recalled some report of a second era car found wrecked outside the ballroom. The fact that it had Cinder's and that she had driven the antique car just brought a smile to his face.

"_I guess now I can talk about being Lunar. As I mentioned earlier, I honestly believed I was simply an orphan from Europe. Someone from Earth. I didn't learn about being Lunar until the same day the queen came here. Great timing, right? I can't tell you who told me, or how it was found out, but suddenly I was Lunar, a fugitive, and I didn't even have a say in it. To make it worse – if that was even possible – my cyborg side can't be tricked by their glamour…it must be similar to how they can't project over netscreens or something. That made me even more of a threat, like the Shells they kill on Luna because they can't be manipulated or fooled. I was to stay away from the palace, to avoid running into Levana, and not be found out._

"_I risked all that, risked being found out, by coming to the ball. But it didn't matter, because stopping you doing as stupid as throwing your life away…you were worth trying to protect. To me, at least,"_ Cinder muttered and Kai's heart jumped in his throat at her semi-confession. "_I couldn't leave without warning you, so I came to the ball. And look how well _that_ turned out. _

"_I guess this brings us to the last issue between us, huh?"_

Tightening his grip on the couch, Kai closed his eyes, waiting to hear from her as the image of her – dirty, smoking, and heart-stopping, painfully beautiful – warred with the mechanic with grease on her forehead from their first meeting.

"_So, at this point, I have been a known Lunar for about two weeks. I've been aware that I have powers for less than half that – I originally was told I was a Shell, a Lunar without powers. It turns out instead that my operation did something to my powers…I'm not really sure about the details._

"_Anyways, I didn't have any type of control of my powers, so I'm asking you to believe me when I saw that I never used them when we were together. I would never want to, not after seeing Queen Levana control people like puppets, play with their emotions and feelings. And, besides, you liked me enough on your own, baggy pants and grease included – and in all honesty, the last thing I wanted for a long time was for you to like me, let alone feel the same the way._

"_That night at the ball, I still didn't know how to use my powers. Even now, I'm not sure what you saw out in the garden, or if it was because you saw that I was a cyborg, that I had been lying."_

Wincing as he recalled his words – "_You're more painful than her to look at." – _Kai wished he could take them back, wipe them out of his memory.

"_In the end, though, it doesn't matter,_" Cinder spoke, as if hearing his thoughts. _"What I want to say is "thank you". Meeting you, talking with you…it's been wonderful. So I'm sorry for all of the trouble I've caused you and what running away from the Lunars will do. I know the fault will be placed on you, but I've decided I'm not just going to give up, be charged for a crime as stupid as simply existing. _

"_I'm going to find Princess Selene. The data Nainsi collected was obviously enough to cause Levana to worry, so I'm going to do my own research and find her. See if she can be convinced to fight against Levana._

"_So until then, Kai, don't give in to her. This time I'll protect you and our home," _Cinder promised, resolve in every word. "_And that's everything, I guess. So for now: good bye."_

In the silence that followed Cinder's last words, Kai listened to the short beep before Nainsi's sensor returned to normal as its operations kicked back on.

"Your Majesty?" The android inquired after Kai remained silent for several minutes. "Is everything all right?"

"Maybe," Kai said softly, straightening from the couch. Retrieving the recording, Kai held it in his hand as he gazed at the desk and Cinder's old foot and hand.

"What would you like me to do at this time?" Nainsi inquired and Kai thought before glancing at his filled netscreen.

"Call for a press meeting in an hour," he decided. He would hold Levana off for as long as possible, and do his own protecting, he decided as he gazed at the chip before slipping it into his pocket.

_End_

* * *

**Ending A/N**: So, things to address before you complain, ask, or throw out doubts:

1. Yes, Cinder is Selene. Yes, I realize I have her saying "I'm going to find Princess Selene". If you don't get the point I was trying to convey…I'm very sorry for you. Please message me ;)

2. I have read Scarlet. I wrote this because I'm sure like many fans, I was disappointed in no Cinder-Kai interaction or resolution from what happened in Cinder. Marissa – if you are reading fan fics (since I know you're on here) I'm expecting something in Cress. Like using the title character (who, remember, is good at hacking) to give us at least one Crowning Moment of Heartwarming between these two.

3. If anyone cares, used a random rank (sergeant) for the royal guards honorific. Thank you Wikipedia.

For some Wild Mass Guessing:

A. For the heck of it – Thorne is going to the main male protagonist in Cress. In Repunzel (non-Disney butchered), the prince loses his sight when he falls from the towers and lands in thorns . Marissa is wonderfully genre savy and great at weaving in the little details like that to make them work (seriously, Wiki Repunzel and look at the plant the mother eats), which brings me to:

B. I'm pretty sure Wolf is actually the role of Huntsman in LRRH. Just saying my own thoughts on the matter.

**Disclaimer:** Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and the characters all belong to Marissa Meyer (who is one of us and knows we write fan fiction out of love of the stories and characters given to us).


End file.
